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Twenty tonne lorry tips over into trench on HS2 site
The Health and Safety Executive is investigating after a fully loaded 20 tonne lorry tipped over into a trench on an HS2 site.
The Enquirer has seen pictures of the accident last month at the Skanska Costain Strabag joint venture site in Hillingdon, west London where work is ongoing for the scheme’s Copthall Tunnels.
The lorry driver was was taken to hospital suffering from concussion after the incident and has since returned to work.
An HS2 Ltd spokesperson said: “The safety of our workforce and the public is our number one priority. An investigation into this incident is ongoing and we are sharing information about the incident with the HSE who have visited the site.”
More than 200 Unite members staged a protest at Skanska Costain Strabag’s HS2 site in Euston on Friday as part of an ongoing row about union recognition on the job.
Unite national officer for construction Jerry Swain said:“These demonstrations will not only continue, but will spread to include other areas where Skanska-Costain-Strabag currently work. We will not stop until union officials are allowed on site.”
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Roofing Repair – Easy Repairs to Do on Your Own
Roof Repair Virginia Beach is necessary after an incidence of the leak. Most often, it happens with metal roofs that have been built over concrete slabs. When the weather turns cold, the metal shingles will crack and allow water in. If not properly repaired or maintained, this will result in further damage such as leakages that will cause a lot of damage to your home.
You may need to replace the damaged roofing if you want to stop leaky roof problems from occurring repeatedly. Leakage can be very costly especially if you have to do roofing repair and if you have to replace all the shingles. This can be very costly and inconvenient, especially if you need to travel to different areas to fix your leaky roof. However, with the help of this guide, you will know how to properly repair a leaky roof.
When you need to have your roof repaired, you have to first get a free estimate from several roofing contractors. Find the ones who are trustworthy and affordable. After you have gathered their quotes, you can compare them and choose the one that offers you the best price. Ask for a free estimate and you should be able to get one from them.
Some of the most common roofing repair problems include damaged shingles, damaged slates, and leaking roofs. Damaged shingles are often the first signs of a leaky roof. It is usually characterized by peeling or crumbly sections. If this is accompanied by hot and humid weather, this can also be a sign that it has started to deteriorate already.
The most common solution when it comes to these leaks is to apply sealant on the damaged area. On the other hand, when it comes to damaged slate or tile roofs, the only option is to replace them with new ones. This is because these materials are quite expensive.
You can always hire roof repair experts to check the extent of the damage. If you want a less expensive repair, you can fix the damages yourself. However, if there are some really important issues, it is advisable to have them fixed by a professional.
If you are planning to replace your home roofing, there are a few things you have to consider. First, you have to determine whether the damage is severe or not. Even a small leak can still lead to water damage, mold growth, and warping. Thus, you need to repair or replace your roof immediately once you found out that they have cracks and leakages.
If you want to know how to fix a mild water leak, you can use mineral wool or other absorbent materials on the affected areas. It is best to remove the stones, tiles, or bricks to prevent further damage. Once you fix the roof problem, you can then apply a sealant to the area. This sealant will prevent the future growth of moss in the area and prevent further damage from occurring.
If you are aiming for a more extensive roof repair, you might want to opt for metal roofs. For this type of problem, you can use bull-nose pliers to pull off the damaged portion. You can then replace it with a new piece of metal. However, some homeowners tend to avoid this option because they think it takes too long to fix the roof leaks. Some also think that using metal sheets would not provide a good seal anymore.
In some cases, you may find that you need to repair or replace your roofing materials or membranes. For example, leaks in the attic insulation may require you to fix flashing. Although it is very hard work, you can be sure that fixing flashing will prevent your loft from leaking. However, some homeowners do not know how to install the flashing correctly. In such cases, you should hire a professional to do it for you.
Venting is another important issue which homeowners usually ignore. If you are planning to fix your roof, you should never ignore the condition of your vents because they can cause major problems in case they are not properly fixed. For example, some homeowners think that repairing or replacing their vents is not required, but in fact, they are quite necessary. The problem with vents is that they tend to accumulate condensation and winter rainwater and eventually clog them. In such cases, you should repair your vents before winter sets in and let nature take its course.
If you want to save yourself time, effort, and money, you should hire a roofing contractor to carry out the repair jobs instead. A good contractor will always use high-quality materials and replace damaged portions of the roof. They are skilled at finding the exact spot where a leak or vent is and use tools to quickly repair or replace them. However, before you contact a contractor, make sure that they use a high quality and durable materials and replace or fix them as required, instead of just pointing to a page in the phone book.
Fire hits Lendlease Elephant Park site
Firefighters tackled a blaze at the giant Lendlease Elephant Park site in south London on Friday morning.
London Fire Brigade’s 999 Control Officers took a series of calls when smoke was seen billowing from the high profile site.
Part of a first-floor roof terrace under construction was damaged by fire and one man was treated at the scene.
Another fire in Elephant and Castle pic.twitter.com/pVBBB1EuZr
— Nicolas Chinardet (@zefrog) August 6, 2021
The brigade was called at 1144 and the fire was under control by 1214. Four fire engines and around 25 firefighters from Lambeth, Peckham, Shadwell and Brixton fire stations attended the scene.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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9 Ways to Maximize Jobsite Productivity
Productivity is simply the measurement of the effectiveness of effort. The rate of productivity is measured as total output per unit of input. In construction, an example of output would be something like the square footage of flooring installed or cubic yards of earth excavated with the input typically being measured in man-hours.
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Shortage of subbies hampers construction growth
Construction buyers have reported a near record decline in subcontractor availability.
Latest results for the bellwether IHS Markit/CIPS UK Construction PMI Total Activity Index show a lack of subcontractors and materials shortages hampered growth last month.
The index registered 58.7 in July – down sharply from June’s 24-year high of 66.3 but still well above the crucial 50.0 no-change threshold.
The latest decline in subcontractor availability was the second-fastest since the survey began in 1997, exceeded only by that seen during the lockdown in April 2020.
Tim Moore, Economics Director at IHS Markit, said: “Long lead times for materials and shrinking subcontractor availability were cited as factors holding back work on site.
“Around two-thirds of the survey panel experienced longer wait times for supplier deliveries in July, while just 2% reported an improvement since the previous month.
“July data marked the first real slowdown in the construction recovery since the lockdown at the start of this year. It was unsurprising that UK construction companies were unable to maintain output growth at the 24-year high seen in June, especially with widespread supply shortages and constrained capacity to take on additional orders.”
Duncan Brock, Group Director at the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, added: “The pervasive weaknesses in supply chains along with a lack of staff and contractor availability were laid bare as construction lost some of its get-up-and-go.
“The rampant rise in prices for raw materials and transportation continued to be the construction’s heavy load along with historically long delivery times.
“Though there was a slight improvement in supplier performance from June’s record low, it was partly as a result of frustrated supply chain managers reining back on purchases that were unlikely to arrive when needed.
“Businesses were also unable to expand on staff capacity, where even the most prolific hiring periods since 2014 was insufficient for builders’ ability to complete work in hand.
“Faced with transport disruptions, shortages of essentials and Brexit delays, the initial spurt of activity this year is fast hitting the rocks.
“Building optimism was dampened to the lowest since January as it is difficult to foresee when all these challenges are likely to subside.”
Fraser Johns, finance director at construction firm Beard, said: “We know these are challenges that are not set to go away any time soon, so in order to move forward it’s going to be crucial to take a proactive approach.
“Working in collaboration with suppliers and subcontractors, including ensuring prompt payment, will go some way to mitigate the risk of projects falling through.
“But customers need to be aware of the issues facing the industry is facing as well. Being transparent at the point of submitting tenders about the need to order certain materials early to ensure delivery on time, using two stage procurement processes, will help to overcome some of these issues.”
Goodbye, Spreadsheets: Win More Work with Centralized Bid Management
As the world continues to open back up, we’re starting to see more signs of recovery in the construction industry. Research from Dodge Data & Analytics and Autodesk shows that bidding activity has been increasing since the start of the year. In fact, bidding activity in BuildingConnected was up 36% in January 2021, compared to a three-month pre-pandemic average.
This is great news overall, and as a contractor, you can capitalize on these opportunities by optimizing your systems to keep up with the increasing number of bids coming your way.
The best way to do that is to eliminate cumbersome tools like spreadsheets.
Spreadsheets are useful for tracking basic information but they’re not ideal for higher level processes and tasks such as bid management.
Since the bidding process requires you to manually enter and track numerous bits of info, putting everything in a spreadsheet can get messy and confusing. This could lead to missed bids and loss of potential work.
What’s more, collaboration can be a pain with spreadsheets. You can’t share files in a centralized manner, so people typically end up emailing each other different versions of the file, resulting in issues with version history and conflict between updates.
Another problem with using spreadsheets? It’s much more difficult to analyze data. While they can display raw information in neat rows and columns, extracting useful insights from spreadsheets is largely a manual process.
All this to say that spreadsheets aren’t great for managing bids and they’re certainly not going to help you win more work.
If you’re still using spreadsheets, it’s high time to replace them with a centralized bidding management system. The right solution can streamline the bidding process and make collaboration easier, ultimately helping you win more bids.
Our recent guide discusses how a centralized bid management system can benefit subcontractors. Download it for free.
DOWNLOAD EBOOK
Read on to explore some of the key insights you’ll find in the guide.
What is a Centralized Bid Management System?
A centralized bid management system refers to a single platform on which you can centrally manage the entire bidding process. It’s an excellent solution for contractors, because it enables you to track and handle all your bids from one place, which can help you increase your win rates and revenues.
Case in point: Bowman Flooring Contractor, a Georgia-based specialty contractor increased its win rate by 25% and revenue by $9 million when the company adopted a new bid management system.
The team at Bowman used to rely on Excel and emails to manage bids, and they decided to implement bid management technology to improve their processes.
In doing so, Bowman was able to be more organized and keep all the necessary bidding information in one place. The new software made it easy for teams to track and assign bids and they were able to prioritize jobs that were more likely to win. What’s more, they could pull up past project estimates, which led to better estimates on current projects.
“Our new software totally changed the way we do business,” said Mike Adams, Senior Project Manager at Bowman Flooring Contractor.
Benefits of a Centralized Bid Management System
We’ve discussed the general benefits of a centralized bid management system, now let’s take a look at the specific advantages of having one.
Streamlined Bid Management
Having a centralized system that’s accessible to multiple team members reduces the need for double entry and other manual tasks. Unlike using spreadsheets, which involves manually entering data, a centralized system for bid management lets everyone work on the same information at any given time.
As a result, subcontractors can minimize errors, confusion, and tedious work like reviewing and re-entering data.
Easy Bid Tracking
Juggling multiple bids can be a nightmare when you’re using spreadsheets and other manual methods. These cumbersome tools can’t centrally store data, so it’s easy for information to slip through the cracks.
When you have a centralized bid management system, you can easily get a bird’s eye view of the entire bid process. You’ll also have a single source of truth when it comes to the status of all your bids and invites, so you’ll never miss an opportunity again.
Better Collaboration
A centralized bid management system allows teams to work together without a hitch. Since information is stored and accessed in the cloud, team members can collaborate in real-time and everyone can always get their hands on the most updated information. This eliminates confusion and miscommunication, which leads to a smoother bid management process.
Simplified Bid Solicitation
A centralized bid management system also improves the process of bidding on and bidding out. When soliciting bids from other subcontractors, the information they submit feeds directly into the bid, so there’s no need to re-enter the same info.
Having the ability to manage both bids in and bids out from a centralized platform paves the way for more competitive final bids. You can track proposals in one place and make data-driven decisions before submitting your bid.
Download Our Free Ebook
To win more bids in today’s increasingly competitive market, you need all the help you can get. A centralized bid management system enables you to stay organized, save time, and understand your bids better, so you can win more projects and continue to grow.
Download our free ebook to learn how a centralized bid management system can help you improve your business.
The post Goodbye, Spreadsheets: Win More Work with Centralized Bid Management appeared first on Digital Builder.
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World’s largest scaffold wrap installed at Bullring
The final section of the world’s largest scaffold banner covering the temporary scaffolding at the iconic Selfridges department store in Birmingham has now been installed.
The striking dogtooth flower design wrap measures almost 9,000 sq mts – 58% bigger than the currently recognised Guinness World Record holder for the largest scaffold banner which was installed in Madrid back in 2018.
The giant wrap is 246 metres long and 37 metres high – equivalent to a giant wall of nineteen double-decker buses stacked eight high.
The team from specialist Embrace Building Wraps started installation work at the end of last year.
In total the team installed 5,888 linear metres of scaffold tubes for the banner frames, vertical curved shaping, and buffer rails. If laid end to end the scaffold tubes would extend around four miles.
The weight of the printed wraps alone is just under five tonnes. Embrace seamlessly joined 24 individual banners of various shapes & sizes of which 85% had three or more adjoining perimeter edges that had to line up perfectly with the adjacent banners.
Installation of the frames and digitally printed wrap will disguise renovation work by BAM on the store.
The banner features an artwork design produced by Birmingham-born designer Osman Yousefzada comprising of interlocking six metre diameter dog tooth flower designs in three contrasting colours.
Greg Forster, Managing Director at Embrace Building Wraps said: “If you have ever tried lining up wallpaper then this is supersized to another level as the average dimensions of each individual banner are 388 m2.
“Our dynamic Operations Team had their work cut out for them and have really delivered on this industry-leading project which has been a fantastic team effort between ourselves, BAM Construction and the Midland Scaffolding Services Teams on site.”
Mace wins green Mayfair office scheme
Mace has been appointed by property investor Astrea to deliver a major new office scheme at 38 Berkeley Square in London.
Located in the heart of Mayfair, the project will provide 85,000 sq ft of premium office space across nine stories with over 7,000 sq ft of communal terracing.
Toureen Group is understood to have secured the enabling and foundations package for the job, which is Mace’s first with Astrea.
Mace is working towards the highest sustainability standards for the project of BREEAM Outstanding, WELL Platinum and LEED Gold. The building will also achieve WiredScore Platinum.
Designed by architects Piercy & Company, the transformation of 38 Berkeley Square will involve using a mix of precast facades and Portland stone.
Completion is expected in the first quarter of 2024.
Ged Simmonds, Managing Director for Commercial Offices and Residential at Mace, said: “We are delighted to work on the transformation of 38 Berkeley Square, on behalf of Astrea.
“Our team will support the client’s vision for a destination office space with an innovative sustainability strategy, minimising carbon emissions during demolition and build.”
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Plans in for £180m Milton Keynes tower scheme
Developer First Base and investor Patron Capital have submitted plans for the £180m redevelopment of the Saxon Court former council office building in Milton Keynes.
The 2.35-acre site, which will be known as MK Gateway, will see the original former council building extended upwards by three floors and a landmark 27-storey apartment built beside it.
The MK Gateway project is designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners
The overhauled Saxon Court building will provide office space while the existing large atrium space will become an indoor public square, with local independent food, drink, and leisure spaces, connected to an outdoor ‘village green’.
MK Gateway will provide the equivalent size of 19 tennis courts worth of publicly accessible space, creating a new neighbourhood to live, work and play.
Vertical gardens integrated into the residential building are claimed top be a first for the UK
Delivering 288 flats for rent, the vertical village building will feature 11 vertical gardens, totalling 4,500 sq ft, for residents to share and enjoy.
“We believe this highly sustainable development will support Milton Keynes’ growth ambitions, celebrate the city’s innovative spirit, and generate significant long-term benefits,” said Steve Eccles, Project Director, First Base.
Remodelled Saxon Court building will provide offices and a new indoor public square
If approved, construction should start before the end of this year.
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Government pledges another £81m for cycle lanes
The government has boosted its “active travel” budget by another £81m to £338m.
The money will promote cycling and walking across the country and further increase the construction of bike lanes.
The government said: “This funding will help see the construction of hundreds of miles of new high-quality cycle lanes.”
A new version of the Highway Code is also being published which “ensures road users who can do the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger they may pose to others.”
The new code will also give “guidance on safe passing distances and speeds and ensuring that cyclists have priority at junctions when travelling straight ahead.”
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Millions of us have found over the past year how cycling and walking are great ways to stay fit, ease congestion on the roads and do your bit for the environment.
“As we build back greener from the pandemic, we’re determined to keep that trend going by making active travel easier and safer for everyone.
“This £338 million package marks the start of what promises to be a great summer of cycling and walking, enabling more people to make those sustainable travel choices that make our air cleaner and cities greener.”
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